Prof. Dr. Philipp Berens

Philipp Berens
Philipp Berens is Director of the Hertie Institute for AI in Brain Health and Full Professor of Data Science at the University of Tübingen. He is Speaker of the Excellence Cluster "Machine Learning – New Perspectives for Science" and part of the core faculty of the Tübingen AI Center. His group develops machine learning and computational modeling approaches to advance our understanding of the eye in health and disease — from large-scale electron microscopy reconstructions and biophysical models of retinal circuits to interpretable algorithms for clinical decision-making in ophthalmology. A particular focus is on building open datasets and benchmarks that enable reproducible research, and on making ophthalmic AI useful in global health settings. His work has been recognized with a DFG Heisenberg Professorship, an ERC Starting Grant and the Bernstein Award of the German Ministry for Science and Education.
The eye is one of the best-studied neural systems, yet most of its data remains untapped. We build the computational tools and datasets to unlock it — from single synapses to population-scale disease patterns.

Present Positions And Title

Professor of Data Science, Director

Research Group

Social Media

Career

PeriodInstitutionRole
Since 2023Hertie Institute for AI in Brain Health, University of TübingenDirector, Professor of Data Science
Since 2019Excellence Cluster “Machine Learning – New Perspectives for Science”Speaker
2018 - 2023Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of TübingenHeisenberg-Professor
2016 - 2018Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of TübingenGroup Leader
2012 - 2016Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, TübingenPostdoc
2008 - 2012Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen & Baylor College of Medicine, HoustonPhD student

Academic Education

YearDegreeInstitutionField of Study
2017HabilitationUniversity of TübingenBiostatistics
2013Dr. rer. nat.IMPRS Neural and Behavioral Sciences, University of TübingenComputational Neuroscience
2009B.A.University of TübingenPhilosophy
2008Dipl. Inform.University of TübingenBioinformatics